The Lout, Clout, And A Happy Shout (I forgot to mention this)
Ron Anderson sent me an e-mail:Just to let you know, that the vast majority of coaches for hockey up here are really great and make sure all the kids have a good time. The jerks don’t really start appearing until you get into the 14 to 15 year old level where things start getting really competitive. I played 9 years of hockey myself growing up and can say I never had a bad experience with a coach. Our problem up here isn’t the coaches who think they are going to the NHL, it’s the parents who think little Johnny is going to make the NHL and are constantly yelling at the ref, coach or both.
Hockey coaches in Canada: defended. Up to age 14, anyway.
I totally forgot to mention what Ron pointed out at the end of his e-mail: it's not just the coaches that are trying to climb the ladder in the dominant sport, it's the parents. Every parent down here thinks that their kid is going to be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame if only the coaches develop him properly.
With hockey, though, I can't imagine any parents down here envisioning any kind of greater glory for themselves. Which is a good thing.
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